Problem:  Board members, funders, community leaders or others don’t have a good picture of our community

Solution:   Use GIS to define your “turf” and then to give it a powerful visual identity. This can be as simple as a basic locator map, for use in a web site or a PowerPoint presentation, or as complex as a series of maps each showing different demographic or environmental aspects of your community. The area depicted can be as small as a neighborhood or as large as an entire country (or the world!).

 Examples:  

• Latino Issues Forum – This map (upper right) allows the Latino Issues Forum to better educate decisionmakers and others on the need for more engagement by Latinos in water policy decisions in the state. By showing the concentrations of Latino populations in relation to their representation on regional water boards, the map conveys a complex message in a simple manner.
  
  
• Land Trust Alliance – LTA is the association of all local land trusts in the United States. This map (middle right) shows all of their members and other key stakeholders.
  
  
• ArtsCorps LA - a Los Angeles nonprofit that supports involvement in the arts needed an attractive poster that illustrated their area of focus
  

• Young people in San Francisco (lower right) – The geography of children shows clearly in this map of census data, block by block. Those focusing on youth can clearly see concentrations and use the map to structure thinking about how and where to engage.